KAMRUI Essenx E2

Updated on May 18, 2026

The KAMRUI Essenx E2 is a 100mm-square mini PC built around Intel’s Twin Lake N150, a four-core, four-thread chip with a 6W base TDP that boosts to 3.6 GHz. It ships in a single 16GB DDR4 / 512GB SATA SSD configuration with Windows 11 Pro pre-activated, aimed at the same browsing-and-office workload that the Intel N100 used to anchor a year earlier. The included VESA bracket lets it disappear behind a monitor; the rear panel hands you HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4 for dual 4K@60Hz, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 Type-A for keyboard and mouse.

The chassis is genuinely small at 3.94 x 3.94 x 1.42 inches (100 x 100 x 40 mm) and 275 g, in the same footprint class as Intel’s old NUC kits but at a fraction of the price. The trade-offs match the price: there is no USB-C anywhere on the device, the wireless radio is Wi-Fi 5 with Bluetooth 4.2 rather than the newer Wi-Fi 6 / BT 5.x found on the Beelink EQ12 tier, and the single M.2 slot caps the system at one drive. For light office work, media playback, classroom carts, and signage it lands at the right price; for sustained workloads or gaming, step up to a Ryzen-based mini such as the Beelink SER7 or take a look at the linux mini PCs of 2025 roundup for alternative chassis tiers.

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KAMRUI Essenx E2 Comparison Chart

	KAMRUI Essenx E2	KAMRUI Essenx E2
Price	List Price: Amazon Prices: Check Price on Amazon	List Price: $279.99 Amazon Prices: Loading prices...
Version	8GB/256GB/Intel N150	16GB/512GB/Intel N150
Performance Rating	4.3	4.9
Operating System	Windows 11 Pro	Windows 11 Pro
Processor	Quad-core 3.60 Ghz Intel Processor N150	Quad-core 3.60 Ghz Intel Processor N150
GPU	Integrated Intel UHD Graphics	Integrated Intel UHD Graphics
RAM	8 GB	16 GB
Internal Storage	256 GB	512 GB
Dimensions width x length x thickness	3.94 x 3.94 x 1.42 inches (100.08 x 100.08 x 36.07 mm)	3.94 x 3.94 x 1.42 inches (100.08 x 100.08 x 36.07 mm)
Weight	0.61 lbs (0.28 kg)	0.61 lbs (0.28 kg)
WiFi	Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)	Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.2	Bluetooth 4.2
Ethernet	1 Ethernet port at 1 Gbps	1 Ethernet port at 1 Gbps
HDMI	1 Full-Size HDMI Port	1 Full-Size HDMI Port
DisplayPort	1 DisplayPort	1 DisplayPort
VGA	No VGA Ports	No VGA Ports
USB Ports	2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3	2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3
Thunderbolt Ports	No	No
OCuLink	No	No
Internal SATA Ports	No SATA ports	No SATA ports
Card Reader	No Card Reader	No Card Reader
Headphone Jack	combo	combo
Fanless	No	No
VESA Mount	Yes	Yes
In the Box	Mini PC, power adapter, HDMI cable, VESA mounting bracket, user manual	Mini PC, power adapter, HDMI cable, VESA mounting bracket, user manual
Expandability	Up to 2TB M.2 SSD; RAM caps at 16GB DDR4 (single SODIMM).	Up to 2TB M.2 SSD; RAM caps at 16GB DDR4 (single SODIMM).

Detailed Look at the KAMRUI Essenx E2 Mini PC

The Essenx E2 is built around Intel’s Twin Lake N150, a four-core, four-thread chip with a 6W base TDP that bursts to 3.6 GHz. It is the entry rung of Intel’s 2025 N-series, sitting below the N250 and N350 that target chassis with more thermal headroom. In the E2’s 100mm-square shell with a single 2300 RPM fan, the N150 has just enough room to hold its boost on typical mixed workloads (Office, Edge with a dozen tabs, a 4K video on the side) without thermal throttling. Intel UHD Graphics on the same die handles dual 4K@60Hz on HDMI 2.0 + DisplayPort 1.4 for static workloads. It is not meaningfully a gaming part: contemporary written reviews report sub-30 FPS even in undemanding titles like Counter-Strike 2 and Team Fortress 2.

Storage and memory both ship with caveats worth knowing before you buy. The single SODIMM slot tops out at 16GB DDR4, and the 16GB configuration is the only one currently shipping (the original 8GB SKU has been retired). The single M.2 2280 slot accepts both SATA and PCIe drives up to 2TB, but only one drive at a time, so a SATA-to-NVMe upgrade is destructive rather than additive. Worth knowing: the factory drive is SATA, not NVMe, which is the first upgrade most owners make.

The port stack is dense for a 100mm box. The rear panel carries two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (10 Gbps), gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0, and DisplayPort 1.4. The front edge has two USB 2.0 Type-A for keyboard / mouse and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. The HDMI + DP pairing supports dual-monitor setups at 4K@60Hz, which is the headline use case here; for triple-display you would have to give one screen up to a USB-DisplayLink dongle since there is no USB-C with DP-Alt. Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 work for everyday browsing and a wireless mouse, but the radio is a generation behind what is standard in 2026 mini PCs.

Reviewer Insights

Tech Brothers YouTube review

Tech Brothers’ 13-minute teardown and benchmark walks through the chassis (locking rear panel for SSD / RAM access), thermal behaviour, and a productivity-leaning workload mix. The reviewer confirms the N150 holds 3.4 to 3.6 GHz on short bursts and settles in the high 2 GHz range under sustained Cinebench load, with fan noise audible but not intrusive. Their take lines up with the price positioning: a real machine for browsing, document work, and 1080p media, not a small workstation.

Techxreviews: “Affordable and Compact Mini PC at $169”

Moussa Obscur’s Techxreviews piece (published 2025-03-28) measured fan noise at 39 dB during normal use and 42 dB under load, with the unit weighing 275 g and measuring 100 x 100 x 40 mm. The verdict was positive on the chassis and quiet operation but explicit about the limits: “the Intel N150 isn’t going to blow anyone away; it’s the slowest chip in Intel’s Twin Lake lineup, but it gets the job done for everyday tasks.” Gaming was specifically called out as a weak spot, with Team Fortress 2 described as “laggy and unpleasant” and Counter-Strike 2 underperforming. Useful detail buried in the body: the stock SSD is SATA, and the reviewer suggested an NVMe swap as the most cost-effective upgrade.

The Inside Review: pros, cons, and rumours debunked

The longer (~1,800-word) piece from choitoippai (April 2025) confirms boot times under 10 seconds with the pre-activated Windows 11 Pro license and “whisper-quiet” thermals at the 15W package. Two practical warnings come out of this review that other write-ups skip: the M.2 layout is single-slot only (a small number of early listings implied two), so plan an upgrade as a one-shot drive swap rather than dual-drive expansion; and the integrated GPU fails to initialise headless on Ubuntu 24.04 stock kernels because it lacks the Twin Lake-N driver entries, with a fix landed in kernel 6.11 and later. If you intend to run a Linux distribution on this box, pick a release with a 6.11+ kernel (current Fedora and Pop!_OS qualify; Ubuntu 24.04 LTS does not until a hardware-enablement stack lands).

Who Should Consider the KAMRUI Essenx E2?

The KAMRUI Essenx E2 is an excellent choice for users seeking a budget-friendly, compact Mini PC for everyday tasks. It’s particularly well-suited for home offices, classrooms, or as a media center for streaming and light computing. Its expandability options make it a good fit for those needing additional storage or memory in the future. Anyone cross-shopping a Raspberry Pi for a low-cost desktop will find our list of the mini PCs that replace the delayed Pi 6 a useful comparison. The included VESA mount also makes it ideal for users looking to save desk space or create a clean, minimalist setup.

However, this Mini PC may not be the best option for users with demanding workloads, such as gaming, video editing, or other resource-intensive applications. Those who require faster wireless connectivity or more advanced features may also want to explore alternatives. To compare the KAMRUI Essenx E2 with other Mini PCs, check out Starry Hope’s Mini PC Comparison Tool.

Frequently Asked Questions